


To Be A Hero

by Brightgemini



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Child Abuse, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-11 12:30:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4435562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightgemini/pseuds/Brightgemini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ladybug was wrong about one thing, Cat Noir did need to be a hero. He needed it more than anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be A Hero

“Hold still!” Ladybug scolded, irritated with Cat Noir's inability to sit still while she tried to clean the long, thin cut that bisected the back of his shoulder. It wasn't a deep wound but it clearly stung as he yelped and twisted under her grip, “You have to let me deal with this or it'll get infected.”

“It hurts!” He whined, pouting as she traded out the alcohol swab for a long strip of gauze to cover the wound.

Despite his protests, the glimmer in his eye told her he was enjoying her touching his bare shoulder and she scowled at him, “How did you manage this anyways? Running into battles half cocked again?”

“I fell off a roof.” He answered, maybe a little too quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice the lack of a rip in his actual costume if she hadn't already. She'd noticed his injury while he'd been trying to impress her earlier, doing flips from one fire escape to another, he'd almost missed the edge of one when his costume had rubbed the wound wrong and she'd demanded he let her take care of it despite his insistence that it was nothing.

“Hah.” She laughed dryly with little humor, “That'll teach you to be messing around all the time. I mean really, this high up? Why push what little luck you have.”

“Mon Cher! Are you worried about me?” He half teased, grinning at her like a Cheshire cat, “Fear not, my sweet lady, cats have nine lives you know.”

“Not worried about you!” She snapped, swatting him so he'd turn back around and let her tape the gauze in place, “Worried someone's going to have to scrape you off the street.”

“That's like worrying about me.” He pointed out triumphantly, wincing as she used a little too much force in her wound dressing.

“I pity whoever you belong to, Feline.” She huffed, “And I'm just glad I'm not responsible for you.”

“Well, maybe I'd be less likely to fall off things if you let me come with you on your rounds.” He threw in casually, though inside he was praying she'd, by some miracle, say yes.

“Not on your life.” She retorted quickly, “You'd only be in the way, being the klutz that you are.”

“Me? A klutz?” He scoffed disbelievingly, jumping to his feet and pulling the shoulder of his jump suit back on, “If I was a klutz, could I do this?”

The Cat Boy grabbed out his bow staff and started twirling around like he was leading a marching band. It was admittedly a little impressive... right up until he angled it wrong and it smacked him between the eyes. Ladybug couldn't help it, she laughed, “Yes, I believe you could!”

“Hold on, let me try again!” He insisted.

“I think you've done yourself enough damage for one night.” She waved him off sternly, “Go home, Cat, rest that shoulder. You don't need to try and be a hero.”

“But I could help you!” He pleaded, attempting to follow her.

She stopped him with a firm push to the chest, “No. I don't need your help. Go home and try not to fall off anymore roofs along the way.”

His ears drooped as he watched her leave. He wasn't sure why he ever expected her to take his offer of help, she really got nothing from it. He was a distraction, a klutzy curse upon others who would never live up to even the lowest of standards set for him, he knew this, he heard it daily when his parents were home. He rubbed his shoulder self consciously, he should have hid that better. As it was, he was grateful that despite her fierce personality, she was a tad naive and optimistic still, that she didn't know the mark a belt made when swung by an angry hand. He hoped she'd never know the feeling of leather on skin like that.

For once he took her advice and turned in early, she was, after all, right, he wasn't much good to her with his shoulder the way it was and he only ever seemed to get in the way. Tending to his wounded pride, he slowly made his way back home, slipping in an upper window of the rich manor where his parents played house, like they could pretend away the imperfections of their lives. Most of them anyways. Adrien had admitted to himself long ago that there wasn't enough imagination in the world to fix his short comings. It was hard to be an only child and to bare all the hopes and dreams a family could saddle on your shoulders, but it was worse to have to bare the dreams they'd once had for someone else.

He tried not to make a sound as he padded softly across the carpet of the pink princess suite he'd snuck into, hyper aware of every wheezy breath taken by the small girl in the bed, almost hidden among the hundreds of cat dolls he'd bought her at every chance he had. Every breath she took was like both of them were suffocating. He knew it wasn't his fault that his nine year old sister had gotten sick, cystic fibrosis is genetic, but he'd never understand why, with his rotten luck, it couldn't have been him to get it. Or maybe that was his luck working against him again. After all, the only thing he could consider worse then getting a disease that would slowly drown him was to give it to Audrey. Audrey the ice skater. Audrey the princess. Audrey the dying child his parents no longer had hope for. This was his fault as much as any of his failures in the eyes of his parents.

“Adrien?”

The tiny, strained voice pulled him out of his dark, spiraling thoughts and alerted him to her bright jade gaze that had fallen upon him. He pulled off his mask, “I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

“Were you a hero?” Audrey asked, ignoring his advice, “Did you save Paris?”

“I did.” He lied, afraid if she knew the truth, she'd look at him like everyone else did and not like they knight in shining armor that she saw now. He pulled off his ring, shoving it in his jeans pocket as his costume disappeared and sitting on the edge of her bed, “I helped Ladybug kick some villain butt. How about I tell you all about it in the morning. You need your rest now.”

“I'm not tired.” She yawned in spite of herself and coughed a little, causing him to worry more. “Tell me about your adventure.”

He shook his head at her plea, getting up to leave, “Tomorrow. Go back to sleep.”

“Wait!” She reached for his hand, “Adrien, will you stay with me?”

Adrien paused, then smiled softly and nodded. He kicked off his shoes and crawled into the bed beside his sister, curling up with her hand still tightly wrapped around his as he'd done hundreds of times before. He listened to her struggled breathing as she drifted back off to sleep. Ladybug was wrong about one thing, Cat Noir did need to be a hero. He needed it more than anything.


End file.
